Pinball
by LastCorsair
Summary: When Yang spots a hickey on Ruby's neck, mayhem ensues. Oneshot.


Yang looked up from the textbook she was studying, noticing the time. Was it that late already? She'd been trying some studying tricks from a book Professor—no, it was _Doctor_ , he was really fussy about that—Oobleck had given her, and had really lost track of time. "Miss Xiao Long, I am keenly aware of how intelligent you are. Your ability to grasp the implications of information you are given is excellent. What you are having difficulty with is the ability to _retain_ information. Here, this book may help you. It's a guide to different study and memorization techniques. You may find the section on meditation particularly useful to you." So she'd tried it, and maybe it was working. Instead of having a vague idea of what she'd been studying for the past few hours she thought she had a better grasp of it than usual. So not perfect, but better. And hadn't that been the point?

But that wasn't what brought a frown to the blonde brawler's face now. It was something, or rather _someones_ missing. She glanced over to where Weiss was sitting at her desk, working on some assignment or another. "Hey Weiss, aren't Blake and Ruby back yet? They've been gone all day."

The sound of the white-haired girl's writing paused before she answered. "I'm sure they're fine. If there was some sort of trouble, Blake would have called us."

Yang nodded. That made sense. While Ruby might charge headlong into danger, Blake would probably call if they had a problem. "Alright." As Yang was finding her place again, Weiss spoke. "So-so what are you studying over there? You've been awfully quiet."

"Grimm studies. Need to bone up on Deathstalkers, for the test next week."

"I see. If you want, I can quiz you on it later."

"Sounds good." Something about the exchange made Yang pause before going back to her book. Weiss had been kinda chatty lately, going out of her way to be near Yang, talk to her. What was up with that? She opened her mouth to say something to Weiss, but before she could put her thoughts into words, Ruby and Blake came back, laughing at something or another. "Looks like you guys had fun. You were gone a while."

"Yeah, it was great fun! There was a film festival at one of the indie theaters in town, 'a retrospective of film noir." Ruby made a grand sweeping gesture. "With presentations and things too. I've always liked movies, you know, but I never really _thought_ about them in an analytical way before. Maybe I'll take some film classes here. They like us to get a well-rounded education while we're here, and I've kinda had a hard time finding classes to fill things out."

Blake smiled as she stepped over to her desk and searched through her own textbooks. "I'm glad you had fun, Ruby. I really enjoyed it too."

Yang yawned and stretched, closing her book as she stood up. Time for a break. Her stomach rumbled and she realized she'd probably studied straight through lunch. Or at least she didn't remember what she'd had for lunch. Yang started to put the book on her shelf, but something on the side of Ruby's neck caught her attention. She reached over and brushed Ruby's hair back, trying to get a better look. "H-hey," Ruby protested, starting to move away, but Yang grabbed her sister's arm in an iron grip before she could escape. "You have a hickey," Yang growled, looking Ruby in the eye.

"S-So? It's no big deal. How old were you when you came home with your first hickey?" Ruby succeeded at squirming out of Yang's grip this time and stood, arms crossed, glaring at her sister defiantly.

Yang blushed. "That's not the point, Ruby. You're my baby sister, and I don't want you-"

"Doing exactly what _you're_ doing? Don't think I don't know!" Ruby's voice rose, and she got right up in her sister's face, arms down at her side. "You can't protect me from everything forever, Yang!"

Yang sighed. "Fine, fine, just tell me who it was, okay? I think I deserve to know that much at least. Make sure you're not hanging out with some of the scumbags I've run into around here"

"Not. Telling."

Yang fought down a giggle. No matter how cute Ruby looked when she got stubborn, this was no laughing matter. Nobody but _nobody_ was making out with her baby sister without the Yang Xiao Long Seal of Approval. "Alright, fine. I've got other sources of information. Blake, you and Ruby left together. So who was she hanging out with, hmm?"

Blake froze, looking left and right for an escape. "Umm, uh-"

"Come on, Blake, tell me. We're partners, right?" Yang took a step towards Blake, smiling, her arms wide. "Do a girl a favor, clue me in on my sister's love life. Can't deny me some great teasing material, can you?"

Blake bolted. Before anyone could object, she was out the door and down the hallway.

Yang stood there, blinking in shock for a moment, then took off after her teammate. If whoever Ruby had been with was bad enough that Blake was running rather than tell Yang, it had to be pretty bad.

Ignoring her sister and Weiss running behind her, calling for her to stop, Yang chased Blake through one of the common lounge areas. Blake vaulted over a couch, scattering the cards to some game Team JNPR was playing everywhere. (Probably Cards Against Remnant. Yang hated that game. Pro tip: Don't play Cards Against Remnant with Weiss. Just don't. You have been warned.)

Blake ducked into the hallway on the opposite end of the common area, but before Yang could follow, Ruby flashed in front of Yang, her arms wide to block her sister's way. "Yang, stop!" Ruby yelled, but Yang ignored her, judo-throwing her sister behind her and continuing the pursuit.

Behind her, Ruby sat up from where she'd landed on Jaune. "Are you okay, Ruby? Why's Yang chasing Blake?" Nora asked, helping her to her feet.

"Yang spotted a hickey on my neck, and figures Blake knows who put it there. So she's chasing Blake to get answers. The truth is kinda complicated."

"Got it." Jaune shakily found his way to his feet, holding his head. "So what's the plan? How do we put the brakes on the Yang-train?"

"We play pinball."

* * *

Blake ran down one of the stairwells, Yang hot on her heels. Trying to catch up, Yang slid down the banister, only to come up short when Blake dived out the window someone had propped open. She reached the window just in time to see Blake make a diving landing, coming to her feet and running in the direction of Beacon's gym. Swearing, Yang jumped after her raven-haired teammate, barely missing the bushes around the first floor of the dorm. She jumped to her feet and set off after Blake

Behind her, Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stood, puzzled. "What do you make of that, Ozpin?"

"I'm not sure. Some disagreement between Miss Belladonna and Miss Xiao Long, perhaps. Or maybe some form of odd training. Miss Rose does come up with unusual ideas in that direction." Ozpin slurped his coffee before continuing. "In any case, I think we should let it run its course."

Yang reached the gym floor just in time to see Blake dart into the locker room on the other end of the room. She dodged around and sometimes over people and equipment, yelling "Sorry!" six or seven times, stopping dead right inside the locker room. Of course Blake had run into the _men's_ locker room. Had she done it on purpose, thinking Yang wouldn't follow, or by accident? Either way, time to follow.

Cardin Winchester stepped in front of her, hands on his hips, wearing nothing but a towel. "Hey, Yang, if you're looking for action, I've got you covered right here."

She readied herself to give Cardin the sort of beatdown that seemed to be the only form of 'No' that got through his thick skull, only to see a familiar silhouette darting through the exit at the far end of the locker room. "No thanks, Cardin I think I see who I'm after. And you're not nearly as impressive as you think." Yang shoved Cardin out of her way, sending his towel flying in the process, and followed Blake out.

Blake ran into the dining hall, Yang close behind. She jumped up on one of the tables, landing on a tray and using her momentum to surf down the other tables towards the other end of the room. Yang jumped up on another table and tried to do the same, only to find herself tumbling and landing flat on her face. What the-? Someone had knocked one of the tables out of line with the rest. And Lie Ren was suspiciously close, drinking a cup of tea. Hadn't he been upstairs playing cards just a minute ago?

Swearing eternal vengeance on Ren, Yang jumped to her feet and charged after Blake once more. Blake ducked into one of the classroom buildings. Good, those would be mostly deserted given that it was late on a Saturday.

Yang ran across the courtyard toward the classroom building, only to bounce off a white glyph floating in the air and land flat on her ass. _Great, now Weiss is playing distraction._ She was going to have to have a word with the heiress when this was done. No, Weiss would probably take Ruby's side of things, being a younger sister herself. Yang jumped to her feet and then over the glyph, continuing her pursuit.

Blake ran down the hallway and into one of the lecture halls. Yang burst through the door right behind her, only to see a room full of students serving a Saturday detention with Professor Port. "Ah, Miss Xiao Long, how kind of you to join us. I was just telling these wonderful students about the merits of a well-timed and executed plan. Allow us to demonstrate." Suddenly Port and all of the students were holding a pie, hurling them at Yang. She dodged as many of them as she could, but most of the barrage managed to hit her.

Yang wiped off her face, flinging the mess to one side. No use getting mad at teachers, they had odd ways of getting even. Then she saw Blake peering in through the window at the back of the classroom. She dived through the glass, swiping at Blake as she landed. No dice, one of Blake's shadow clones. Yang caught a glimpse of Blake running towards the school's reflecting pool. She scowled, calling on her semblance. Time to end this.

Blake ran past Jaune and Pyrrha, who promptly stood shoulder to shoulder, setting up a shield wall in Yang's way. "Yang, stop. Let Ruby explain, okay?" Jaune said nervously. Yang laughed and faked in his direction, only to have the pair dive out of her way. What the-? Then she felt something hit her square in the middle of her back sending her headfirst down an ice ramp that appeared out of nowhere, sliding down a set of stairs, getting smacked at the bottom by Nora's hammer, speeding her up the ramp at the end and into the air. Yang oriented herself just in time to see Blake standing in front of the reflecting pool, bent over, breathing hard. _Perfect._ Yang set herself up for the much-delayed beatdown, only to go sailing through another of Blake's shadow clones and into the pool. She bounced one, two, three times, coming to a halt against the far end of the reflecting pool.

The battered, sticky, and thoroughly soaked blonde brawler hauled herself out of the pool, propping herself up on the edge with her elbows. Her teammates and Team JNPR stood in front of her, other students milling about and watching the mayhem. Ruby stood in front, arms crossed, glaring at her sister."Do you give up, or do we need to do this some more? Cuz I've got a whole lot of other things planned. Including a trip through Professor Peach's greenhouse."

Yang shuddered at the thought of Peach's greenhouse. Normal Grimm were bad enough, but Grimm plants? Ugh. "Okay, I give up. But can we talk about this, Ruby?" She dragged herself the rest of the way out, wringing out her blonde mane as she spoke. "Look, I'm just worried about you. If somebody assaulted you-"

"Yang, stop. First thing, I'm training to be a _Huntress._ I fight packs of Beowolves. Don't you think I can handle some idiot getting grabby?"

"Okay, but-"

"And second," Ruby's eyes took on a mischievous twinkle, "did you ever think that maybe it was _my idea?_ That maybe I started things?"

Yang stopped in mid-motion. "Uhh..."

Her sister shook her head. "No, you just flipped right into overprotective big sister mode." Ruby shook her head as she sat down next to Yang. "Yang, I'm fifteen. You were what, thirteen when you introduced us to your first boyfriend? I'm not so little anymore.

"So yeah, I'm seeing someone. We've had like three official 'dates.' And I didn't tell you for a couple of reasons. The first thing is, this is really new. We're still sorting things out. And the person I'm seeing asked me to keep things private for now. Their last relationship was...well, I don't know it all, but 'really bad' is how they described it.

"Which is why I'm letting them set the pace, for the most part. And we're taking it slow and getting to know each other, really know each other. It's...nice. I can't tell you who because I'm respecting their privacy. This isn't mine to tell, not all of it."

Yang blinked. Sometimes Ruby could be really smart about things, smarter than Yang. "Okay. Just...be safe. And make sure I'm the first one you tell, okay? I just wish I knew it was somebody I trusted, but if you trust him, that's going to have to be enough for me, for now." Blake stood just behind Ruby now, and Yang looked up at her partner. "Blake, I'm sorry for chasing you all over school. I shoulda given Ruby a chance to explain."

"It's...okay." Blake held out a hand and pulled Yang to her feet. "I'm an only child, so I don't really get sibling relationships, but I know how much you and Ruby care about each other. And," Blake shot a questioning look at Ruby, who shrugged, "do you trust me?"

"Sure, we're partners aren't we? Why do you ask?"

Blake's voice was low, just loud enough for Yang and Ruby to hear. "Because it was me Ruby was with." A pink tinge crept into her cheeks, just visible against her pale complexion. "I, um, got a little carried away in one of the movies at the film festival."

"Wait, so you two-?" Ruby and Blake nodded, Ruby now sporting a blush to match Blake's. "Huh. Didn't see that coming. Well, at least you've got taste, Rubes. I was kinda watching the Bella-booty myself. And Blake, you probably know this is coming, but if you hurt Ruby-"

Blake rolled her eyes. "I will have to withstand the wrath of Yang Xiao Long," she said, laughing along with Ruby at the end. "I get it, I get it."

"Might I suggest we continue this conversation somewhere else?" Weiss's voice was calm and collected as she looked at the crowd watching. "Otherwise someone we don't want to know is going to overhear you."

"Indeed." Goodwitch and Ozpin stood a discreet distance away. "I take it your...disagreement has been resolved?"

Yang squared her shoulders and turned to face Goodwitch. "Professor Goodwitch, this is all my fault. I...learned something about my sister that upset me, and they were just trying to calm me down. I accept full responsibility."

"You don't gotta do this, Yang," Ruby whispered.

"Nah, it's cool. I started this, if anybody's gonna get punished, it's me. Call it a big sister thing. I'll gladly serve whatever detention is necessary." _And clean up the mess, too,_ Yang thought, wincing at the thought of the mess in the dining hall and Port's classroom.

"Let's start with the mess in the dining hall. Dinner will be served soon, so that needs to be cleaned up as soon as possible. We'll decide what other punishment you will receive when that is cleaned up. And Miss Xiao Long, you really do need to get your temper under control. I think some sessions with the school counselor may be in order." Goodwitch pushed her glasses up her nose, glaring at all of them.

"But-" Yang stopped, biting her lip. Okay, yeah she really had blown her stack really bad this time. "Maybe you have a point."

"I want to see all four of you in my office after the mess in the dining hall is taken care of. And after Miss Xiao Long has had a chance to clean up herself," Goodwitch added, glancing at the sodden, sticky mess Yang had become.

Yang trudged toward the dining hall, the rest of Team RWBY tagging along behind. "Go on, gang, I'll catch up with you in the room after the mess is cleaned up. I need to shower anyway before we see Goodwitch."

"You...you really don't want us helping?" Ruby asked. Yang couldn't help but noticed how closely Blake and she were walking. Thinking back, they'd been doing that for a while, and Yang mentally smacked herself on the head for not noticing sooner.

"Nah, like I said, my mess, mine to clean up. It's cool." Ruby and Blake went off, leaving Weiss walking with her. "I said scram, Weiss."

"I...want to apologize for my part in keeping you in the dark about Ruby and Blake's relationship. I found out a few days ago when I caught them together in our room. I urged them to tell you as soon as they could. This is not what I had in mind. Plus I wanted to give them some privacy. I imagine it's been rather hard for them to steal time together."

"No more stealing, as far as I'm concerned. If they want the room for a bit, all they gotta do is ask." Yang winced at the thought of what her sister and Blake could get up to with a bit of privacy but set it aside forcibly. Their relationship, their business. Dad was gonna flip, though.

"Agreed. Time...to be themselves with no-one watching is a precious thing, sometimes more precious than air itself." Weiss turned to go, then stopped. "I was wondering what your plans were for this evening, Yang? Would you care to have dinner with me?"

"Yeah, maybe, give Ruby and Blake some time alone." Yang trudged along for a few more steps, then stopped. "Wait, are you asking me out, Weiss?"

Weiss glanced at Yang over here shoulder and kept walking, giggling slightly.


End file.
